Sean Penn says Ireland was not a good place to be on his last visit to the country, but that things have improved dramatically in the last four years.
Penn was in Dublin on Friday to present a Front Line Defenders International Human Rights Award to the Pakistani women’s group Sawera, and the actor told Newstalk’s Chris Donoghue that he was looking forward to a good night out in the capital.
Having been over and back a number of times in the last 30 years, the Oscar winner says he was struck by how quiet the pubs were in 2010 as the downturn took hold.
“When I came back this last time, it was dark and quiet most of the time and the pubs were empty. It really, really struck me,” he said.
Penn said he was happy to see things had improved in the meantime.
“This is my first time back since then and I understand that things have improved significantly and I’m looking forward to sharing in the improvement this evening with my one night in Dublin.”
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